I stop for my 79 cent coffee most mornings at my favorite gas station. The owner, an entrepreneurial giant, has a right hand guy who helps him rule the real estate neighborhood in his corner of the world. We’ll name this right hand, Tony.
Tony is an ardent Browns fan. I was an ardent Browns fan in another life. As the season has progressed, from one loss, two losses, three losses, our views of the team have widened. In the midst of our most recent weekly discussion, I realized he is the last standing Browns fan.
After the first loss, his defense was, “didn’t you see the improvement?”
After every loss, “didn’t you see the improvement?”
Rose colored glasses are one thing. But whatever color glasses Ray Charles would have worn, he would still have been blind.
The last standing Browns fan is blind too. I said to him that I hoped Cincinnati would like Hue Jackson.
He said that the fans of Cincinnati would not put up with him, they would not put up with a losing coach.
Think about that, the fans of Cincy will not put up with losing, but the fans of NE Ohio will tolerate not one home win in the 2017 season?
This from the last standing Browns fan.
Another argument he put forward was that no one else would want the job. Think about it. This fan thinks so little of their city, their team, and their history that they think they have to put up with less than mediocre. Horrid is the best they can do, they think.
Think about your own business. Would you put up with substandard performance because you thought no one else would want the job? The worst part is that this is from someone who thinks they are a fan.
I think a real fan would reject the premise that we have to tolerate two losing seasons. A real fan would call for everyone’s head. A real fan would have a high standard of excellence: on the field, on the sidelines, in the front office, for ownership and most importantly in the honest mirror.
